Haryana CM Khattar ducks queries on Gurgaon chaos on Twitter

Khattar interacted with residents and commuters on Twitter as part of #ManoKeMukhSe, which started later than scheduled, even as the traffic chaos unfolded on the water-logged roads of the Millenium City.

After heavy rain, vehicles stuck in long traffic jam at Delhi-Gurgaon expressway, in Gurgaon, India, on 28 July 2016. (Parveen Kumar/Hindustan Times)

As thousands of commuters were left stranded in traffic jams across Gurgaon on Thursday night, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar was at the receiving end of a massive outburst on Twitter.

Khattar interacted with residents and commuters on Twitter as part of #ManoKeMukhSe, which started later than scheduled, even as the traffic chaos unfolded on the water-logged roads of the Millenium City.

The one-hour interactive session was scheduled between 10 and 11am on Thursday. However, at 12pm, the CM tweeted that he will start the interaction later in the day.

At 8pm, when he finally took to Twitter, Gurgaon was already caught in the gridlock for nearly three hours.

A heavy evening downpour left commuters stranded - many without fuel and water - on their way back home from Gurgaon till well past midnight. Many were seen abandoning their cars and wading through knee-deep water.

Khattar, who spent two years as a corporate executive in Gurgaon before joining politics, did not speak a word about the mayhem even as residents and commuters kept seeking his attention by sharing their ordeal from ground zero throughout the night.

He answered queries on various issues in Gurgaon but did not speak on those related to city’s traffic and waterlogging even as Haryana remained a trending topic on the account of #ManoKeMukhSe initiative.

“Can anyone believe that I am still at the same spot where I was 4 hours ago...Sohna road, Gurgaon. Waterlogging, huge traffic..#ManoKeMukhSe,” entrepreneur, Sadhavi Khosla, tweeted.

Can anyone believe that I am still at the same spot where I was 4 hours ago...Sohna road, Gurgaon. Waterlogging, huge traffic..#ManoKeMukhSe

In the only reply to the question about Gurgaon’s traffic, Khattar passed the buck. “#ManoKeMukhSe NPR will decongest most of the gurugram traffic.. Why so weak political will to finish it. #DwarkaExpresswayBanao,” Sandeep Gupta, who tweeted on the handle @Sanprasar, asked.

“Mr. @ArvindKejriwal should be asked this. Frustrated by non-cooperation by Delhi Govt,we have got it declared as NH,” Khattar replied.

Questions posed by Hindustan Times about water-logging and traffic jams in Gurgaon and whether his government had any solution to the permanent woes of the city, was conveniently ignored by the CM.

Khattar answered more than 80 questions during the session. He also made a number of other announcements.

He said he was positive about the setting up of the Gurgaon Development Authority (GDA), and taking over of maintenance by the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) much to the chagrin of irked commuters.